This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took aim at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Sunday, saying he wishes there were "a speaker with a spine" on federal budget issues.
Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox News Channel, Paul was discussing America's debt ceiling, and explained: "I'm one of the conservatives that has never voted to raise debt ceiling, but there are circumstances in which I would, and I've put those forward before."
"I have a plan to balance the budget in five years. If we had a speaker with a spine who put forward a budget and a plan to cut spending over a five-year period to balance the budget, I'll vote to raise the debt ceiling 'cause you still have to add debt during that five years.
"What happens typically, and this is where President Trump is right, since conservatives don't vote for it, the liberals rule the day and they say we'll vote for the debt ceiling but only if you spend more and create more debt. So it backfires.
"But there's another alternative. Rather than getting rid of the debt ceiling, you get a speaker with a spine who puts forward a spending plan that actually encourages conservatives like myself and some members of the Freedom Caucus to join on, and and we will support raising the debt ceiling, but only if you reform government.
"You have to reform government. This is probably the number one problem affecting the future of our country, is this $36 trillion debt, and we have to do something about it. So for me, let's put forward something that cuts spending and then see if we can get all the conservatives on board where you don't need Democrat votes at all.
But later in the same broadcast, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., came to Johnson's defense, saying he was doing "an amazing job."
"The fact is Mike Johnson's doing an amazing job with no margin for error," Gingrich said. "I ran the House pretty well for four years. I've over in known every speaker since then including Pelosi. What Johnson did this week is exactly the constitutional system.
"I think the bill we saw initially, the 1,500-page bill, was the last stand of the Biden old order establishment. Because Trump and Musk intervened, that was killed, and it then took Johnson a couple of votes working his way around to pass a bill which is like 136 pages. How can you blame a guy if he takes 1,500 pages, shrinks it to 136, works very closely with President Trump? What's the beef?
"Every Republican in the House has to grow up and recognize that when you have a one-vote margin or a two-vote margin, you had better all be on the same team, and that includes the 30 guys in the Freedom Caucus who wake up every morning saying, 'My vote's no. What's the topic?' I mean, they've got to grow up here and understand every time they do that, they empower Democrats.
"And if the Republicans are going to really govern," Gingrich continued, "then they've all got to become a team, they've all got to agree that after they're done fighting in the conference, they're all going to vote yes. And If they do that, Johnson and President Trump will be very successful.
"But I think what Johnson went through was exactly the constitutional process.
"The old order gave us the last stand, the new order broke it down. This is an example of Trump really being the de facto president. Biden was totally missing in action. So I think this was real progress."
On another topic, Bartiromo asked Sen. Paul, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, if he would be supporting all of President-elect Trump's nominees during conformation hearings for the Cabinet.
"I couldn't be happier with his nominees. I couldn't have picked better. I mean some of 'em are people exactly I would have picked," Paul said. "The vast majority I will support on Day One."
"I think in the if first week you'll have half a dozen of 'em approved in the first week. I will control one committee, and that committee I pledge to get 'em through as quickly as possible."
